The Venerable Mary, nicknamed the Egyptian, lived in the middle of the fifth and early sixth centuries. Her youth did not bode well. Maria was only twelve years old when she left her home in the city of Alexandria. Being free from parental supervision, young and inexperienced, Maria became involved in a vicious life. There was no one to stop her on her way to destruction, and there were many seducers and temptations. So for 17 years Mary lived in sins, until the merciful Lord turned her to repentance.
It happened like this. By coincidence, Maria joined a group of pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land. Sailing with the pilgrims on the ship, Mary did not stop seducing people and sinning. Once in Jerusalem, she joined the pilgrims on their way to the Church of the Resurrection of Christ.
People entered the temple in a wide crowd, and Mary was stopped at the entrance by an invisible hand and could not enter it by any effort. Then she realized that the Lord did not allow her to enter the holy place because of her uncleanness.
Overcome with horror and a sense of deep repentance, she began to pray to God to forgive her sins, promising to radically correct her life. When Mary saw the icon of the Mother of God at the entrance to the temple, she began to ask the Mother of God to intercede for her before God. After that, she immediately felt enlightenment in her soul and entered the temple unhindered. After shedding copious tears at the Holy sepulchre, she left the temple a completely different person.
Maria fulfilled her promise to change her life. From Jerusalem, she retired to the harsh and desolate Jordan desert and spent almost half a century there in complete solitude, fasting and prayer. Thus, by severe exploits, Mary of Egypt completely eradicated all sinful desires in herself and made her heart a pure temple of the Holy Spirit.
The elder Zosima, who lived in the Jordanian Monastery of St. John the Baptist, by the providence of God, was honored to meet the Venerable Mary in the desert when she was already a very old woman. He was amazed by her holiness and gift of foresight. Once he saw her during prayer, as if she had risen above the earth, and another time she was walking across the Jordan River, as if by land.
When parting with Zosima, the Monk Mary asked him to come back to the desert a year later to give her communion. The elder returned at the appointed time and gave the Holy Mysteries to the Venerable Mary. Then, coming to the desert a year later in the hope of seeing the saint, he no longer found her alive. The elder buried the remains of St. Mary there in the desert, which was helped by a lion, who dug a hole with his claws to bury the body of the righteous woman. This was around the year 521.
Thus, from a great sinner, the Venerable Mary became, with God's help, the greatest saint and left such a vivid example of repentance.